Every Friday on social media, colorful images of traditional textiles and clothing from across Mexico highlight its rich cultural diversity. Through a campaign called “Viernes Tradicional” (Traditional Friday), which is in the spirit of the trend in some office environments of encouraging casual dress on “casual Friday,” images can be found on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

An invitation is made for indigenous and non-indigenous people to upload a photo of themselves wearing their favorite item of traditional clothing with the hashtag #ViernesTradicional and an accompanying description of the technique, origin, and if possible, the name of the artisan. The result is a weekly snapshot of designs and their background representing indigenous peoples of Mexico.

However, freely uploading these types of photos in such a public manner opens up the door for possible plagiarism leading to commercial exploitation, an ongoing challenge for artisans from Mexico and across Latin America, whose livelihoods depend on their original designs. As a result, this campaign provides a space to report potential plagiarism, and stresses the importance of better understanding the origin of these garments and the need to support local artisans.

Huipil made by waist loom from San Juan Bautista, Oaxaca. With representation of the peacock, and located on the chest, is the representation of the navel with cosmic vision of indigenous peoples, which emanates from the center of the universe surrounded by the 4 cardinal points